SVP, Group Account Director - Publicis Groupe : Job Details

Leo Burnett is a communications agency powered by its HumanKind operating system, with the belief that creativity, data and technology work together to transform human behavior and drive prosperity for clients. Part of Publicis Communications, Leo Burnett Worldwide is one of the world's largest agency networks with 85 offices and more than 8,000 employees. The global agency works with some of the world's most valued brands including Aldi, Bank of America, Campbell's, Dunkin, Firestone, Jim Beam, Kellogg's, Nintendo, Tillamook and UnitedHealthcare among others.

We're looking for an SVP Group Account Director to be the integrated account team leader steering culture-shaping, innovative and effective work on behalf of one of the world's largest retailers.

The ideal candidate is a proven client business partner, someone with the resourcefulness, flexibility, pro-active curiosity to behave as a leader across a big, complex team. You will need to juggle multiple business priorities simultaneously, and manage up and down the team – and not be opposed to leaning in and getting your hands dirty. You will help lead a large team of driven account managers and integrated team across creative, strategy, production and project management.

You must be equal parts strategic business partner, production and creative pro, and problem solver, comfortable in the ambiguous and able to turn it into clarity to make progress. You will deepen our client relationship and grow their business in a meaningful way. You will need proven agency leadership experience across a large client portfolio, with examples of innovative or transformative creative outputs.

You will work as a leader across the Publicis Groupe Power of One creative agency solution – a collective of agencies and partners working together on behalf of the retailer. This is a big team that spans five+ creative agencies. You will need to be a true collaborator across a myriad of partners, and prioritize the success of our clients and the larger team vs. any individual agency. This is different than a traditional IAT, we all work together and succeed together. And you must also be a collaborator and partner with our media agency, and our creative studio driving integration across our projects and throughout our process.

To be successful in this role you must:

• Be a leader with vision and lead our team by example, you are directing and inspiring your team to meet and exceed all expectations and do their best work every day.
• Operate at a fast pace, quickly communicating with and leading a team, acting with agility as needs shift and unafraid to make decisions. Additionally, while comfortable moving quickly, you are also adept at knowing when to pause the team to consider and assess the best path forward.
• Act as a brand steward – you must know the brand and business inside and out, and you are the one clients will call when things are good and bad, and will help navigate all opportunities and challenges.
• Be open to ideas and insight from across the integrated agency team and all partners, with multi-cultural fluency.
• Have high emotional intelligence, confidence and resilience navigating across a complex organization, building strong internal and external relationships.
• Have a passion for nurturing and growing the account team and building client management and business partnership as a focus for junior and mid-level talent.
• Lead and direct internal teams (direct reports, agency partnerships, colleagues and seniors) with confidence and clarity, inspiring others to collaborate and solve challenges together.
• Navigate the Power of One team and operations, leaning on the internal expertise available to deliver outstanding creative solutions to a range of briefs and asks.
• Be fluent in all phases of the creative process from strategy, through creative to production and bring expertise and guidance to each stage, helping problem solve and veer from process when needed.
• Be adept at having difficult conversations and reasoning through ambiguous situations – every day and situation is different, and requires transparency and critical thinking to drive positive outcomes.
• Foresee issues before they arise and head them off. They take pressure off the team by tackling the difficult conversations, and knowing when to raise for support.
• Have an entrepreneurial mentality and keep your eyes out for client needs, with a keen ability to quickly translate these needs into a solution to help grow the business.

• At least 15+ years of experience and demonstrated growth as an Account leader on large, complex clients.
• Clear examples of leadership on a large-scale campaign with innovative creative outputs and/or client partnership focused on digital transformation.
• Passion for working at the speed of retail is a must.
• This role will be based out of the NYC area; in office presence 3x/wk is a must (Monday as the mandatory, flexible other two days).
• Bachelor's degree or relevant experience.
• Willingness to travel for Client meetings.

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we're better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact [email protected].

Compensation Range: $146,490- $230,460 annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 09/03/2025.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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